Ethnobotanical survey of trees in Fundong, Northwest Region, Cameroon

Ethnobotanical investigations were conducted in Fundong Central Subdivision in the Northwest Region of Cameroon to identify trees growing in the area and collect information on their uses by the local people. This research covered a period of 12 months from May 2007 to April 2008. Ethnobotanical information was collected through the show-and-tell/semi-structured method and personal interviews during field trips. Three villages were investigated. A total of 82 tree species were identified belonging to 70 genera and 42 families. Among these species, 40 were widely used by the local people in traditional medicine to treat 48 human ailments. Tree species were also used for fuel wood, construction materials, wood carving and honey production. Leaves and barks were commonly used in traditional medicine while the wood, branches and the entire plants were commonly used for other purposes. In spite of the scarcity of natural forests in the study area, the local populations continue to depend on indigenous and exotic trees in their surroundings for their survival. There is therefore need for cultivation, protection and sustainable management of these valuable resources for rural livelihoods

Captured by the Discourse? The Socially Constitutive Power of New Higher Education Discourse in the UK.

This paper addresses the extent to which academic staff are ‘captured’ by the discourse associated with the ‘new higher education’ (NHE) in the UK and identifies the factors which condition their ability to displace, negotiate, reconstruct and create alternative discourses. In addressing this task, the paper draws on data from a five-year ethnographic study of an English university, NewU, a single document from NewU published after that study, a comparative study of ‘new’ academics in England and Canada, and spontaneous textual data produced at a conference on higher education. The paper concludes that the dialogical nature of universities means that the impact of NHE discourse on organizational practices is mitigated as it is read and reacted to in varied ways: that academics are not fundamentally ‘captured’ by this discursive form. However, caution is advised in extending this argument too far